Understanding Business Needs is Important to Bring Meaningful Ideas to Life

“Being a part of the Cadila Young Leadership Program (CYLP), I got the chance to understand the core business, while learning the nuances of handling all sorts of challenges. While my peers are stuck in their daily mundane tasks, in just 1.5 years , I have worked on several projects, helping me get a 360 degree exposure.”

Mandeep Singh, is a part of the Chemical Strategic Business Unit which takes care of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients business in the organization, an important business segment. He joined Cadila, as a part of CYLP 2019 batch after completing his M.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Guwahati.

“After completion of my induction program, my first assignment was in the Business & Operational Excellence role at Ankleshwar where I worked for four months in various projects for maximising output from our flagship Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients manufacturing site. I am proud to have contributed to time-cycle reduction of one API, impacting increased production capacity and ultimately serving growing demand of this product in lifestyle diseases. Being a Chemical Engineer at heart and having got an opportunity to work in Cadila’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients products of Chemical origin, I consider myself really fortunate to gain such exposure within a short span of just over a year.

After completing work at manufacturing site and at long term initiatives of senior leadership, currently I am implementing that learning in my role as Demand Planner for the same business unit, so as maximize the output by collaborating between business and operations teams.”

Having had internship experiences in other upcoming chemical industries in the past, working in 7-decade-old pharmaceuticals company came with its own perks for Mandeep.

“Entire pharma industry is fostering on changes in Indian patent regime pioneered by our founder, Shri I. A. Modi, who challenged the monopoly of multinational giants almost seven decades ago. Cadila’s organisational culture has inculcated his vision, which has helped us grow in such a highly competitive industry like Pharmaceuticals. I realized, clarity of mission, vision, and values is extremely important for an organization to sustain through time. Cadila is amongst the few organizations to have been growing over the past 70 years thanks to its strong systems and processes.”

Cadila Young Leadership Program (CYLP)

Just like every first job, Mandeep’s experience at Cadila also was a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges. While he had a lot of opportunities to grow, he also had to brave through some challenging times. But he was not alone, during this journey.

“So far, the whole journey in Cadila has been full of excitement while juggling between multiple priorities to manage expectations across internal and external stakeholders. Beyond the technical know-how, I could experience that how strong inter-personal skills and values like humility, integrity and empathy add to the success of a leader, and in turn to the organisation too. One important learning that I gathered from my mentors is that business is more than B2B or B2C, it’s more about People to People. Not only for personal growth, but if one wants to achieve anything, it cannot be without a team. Relationships, make an important part of your success story.”

On asking about him being a young leader and being a part of the program, he shared the experiences he gathered across 1.5 years which has helped him accelerate his journey.

“Cadila young leaders are highly admired across all locations in Cadila and they are provided with ample opportunities to capitalise on their strong academic and professional learnings. The organisation is always ready to support new ideas and right talent, given they bank upon their strengths in the interest of business and humanity. Fresh, meaningful, relevant and measurable ideas are always welcome at Cadila.

Between the experience I gained and the people I could work with, the CYLP program is more than I could ever hope for after graduation. While rubbing shoulders with many highly qualified, skilled and experienced seniors in the campus, I could become friends with some of them and learn how to balance between freedom and responsibilities. Here, I have learned how many teams come together with their unique talent to create something impactful.”

“To the bright, young future leaders who have joined our family this year, I would like to give a piece of advice to never be afraid of any mistakes while shouldering responsibilities. CPL leadership and culture is very supportive and provides ample opportunities and experience to the employees who have the vision to make a difference.

Buddha said, “The mind is everything. What you think you become”. Likewise, to all the future CYLP s, if you think you are leaders, you will become. As they say, you are the outcome of five people you spend most of your time with, so surround yourself with people who admire you and have a positive attitude. Set goals for yourself and chase after them. Sky is the limit.”